White House logbooks deserve public scrutiny

Obama settlement is a victory for political transparency.

Express-News Editorial Board

Published 3:46 pm, Monday, September 14, 2009

Presidents, like other politicians, would prefer to conduct the nitty-gritty of politics out of the spotlight. That's one reason why, traditionally, they have been reluctant to make information about who is visiting the White House available to the public.

For a president who campaigned on a message of change and a commitment to transparency, Barack Obama seemed oddly content to continue the Bush-era policy of keeping the White House visitor log a state secret.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits against the Bush administration for visitor records. While those were on appeal, it filed two additional lawsuits against the Obama administration.

The public has a legitimate interest in knowing with whom a president is meeting, conducting business or seeking counsel, insofar as it's not a matter of national security. It shouldn't require a lawsuit to satisfy that interest.

Happily, President Obama reversed course this month and agreed to settle the lawsuits. By the end of the year, the White House will begin posting online the names of White House visitors.

The settlement carves out a number of exceptions - on national security grounds, for strictly personal visitors and for politically sensitive visitors, such as potential Supreme Court nominees. That leaves an administration bent on secrecy plenty of wiggle room to hide information from the public.

The new policy is, however, an important step in the right direction. If the current or future administrations try to exploit the secrecy loopholes, watchdog groups like CREW will put the issue back in the courts - where it shouldn't need to be.